The Underside of a Rainbow
by Skeren Dreamera
Summary: Discontinued: Someone is breaking into the heavily guarded areas under the Preventor's area. They also seem to have decided to pick on the people in charge of the case. Adopted by Krystal Kitsune Uchiha
1. chapter 1

**Title:** The Underside of a Rainbow

**Author:** Bagelbunion & Skeren Dreamera

**Feedback:** Mickeofas (yahoo address), and Bagelbunion (cox. net address)

**Spoilers:** Preventers HQ

**Pairings:** 2x5, hinted at others

**Disclaimers:** We don't own the characters from Gundam Wing, nor from the other show that will have characters present in this story.

**Notes:** This is our first try on making a fic with another person, so please, I hope you can enjoy it! If you want to understand the title, I'll help. It means a dark rainbow, think black in place of yellow, and there you go.

The sound of breaking glass shattered the silence in the quiet museum. The irony was just sickening as the alarms suddenly blared picking up on the noise and adding their own symphony to the ruined peace of a moment before. The gem, the "Starlight Sapphire" as it was named, was grabbed through the broken glass and thrown into a black knapsack.

Two figures, both dressed in black, ran up the stairs as the alarms echoed off the walls just behind them. The doors to the main hall where the starlight sapphire was on display slammed open as Preventers Special OP's and SWAT ran in the door. "Preventers! FREEZE!" They shouted. The room was empty. They preformed a quick sweep of the area, but no clues had been left behind. It was almost as though they'd been robbed by ghosts.

The two figures were already upstairs by the time the people below entered and they leaped through one of the third-story windows, breaking glass for the second time that night. The Preventers rushed up the stairs guns cocked and ready but the room was again empty. A full police force arrived nearly twenty minutes later to assist Preventers. Alas, no clues were found.

Three rooftops away, two silent figures watched the scene unfolded. The taller one reached into his knapsack and pulled out the starlight sapphire and admired it, his green eyes reflected against the blue. "Worthless fools." The smaller one cursed. The taller one only smiled, agreeing without saying a word.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Tell me again why we got stuck with this job?" Wufei cast an annoyed, though amused look over at his partner as he flipped, once again, through the file that they'd been given that afternoon by Lady Une.

"Silly! Because she wanted the person who could catch those two the easiest on the job. She did say that the past two teams failed y'know. She's been trying to catch that group for _months_." Duo gave a grin, then proceeded to nibble on his licorice. He'd stolen it from one of the girls down the hall. Duo grinned and sucked on the rope pulling it in and out of his mouth.

"Do you always have to do that?" Wufei sighed exasperated at Duo's sexualization of candy, Of all things! And the current job assignment.

"Do what?" Duo asked innocently. "_Suck_ on something _sweet?_" Duo smacked his lips emphasizing the words, "Or steal candy from the receptionists?"

"Both". Duo grinned and twirled his candy again.

"Once a thief, always a thief." Wufei sighed. "Again. Why are we stuck with this job? These are thieves, not a menace to peace." Wufei hiked an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

"Sure they are. Didn't you see the part where it mentioned that they are stealing documents as well as items? It's starting to cause some really serious problems. You know me, takes a thief to catch a thief. You know she could do no better." Duo turned a bit, sliding his leg onto Wufei's desk as he batted his eyes at him. "So, when should we get started, dear Fei?"

"Don't call me that at work, what have I told you?" Wufei glared at Duo who had slid his other leg up crossing it over his knee and looking down at Wufei. "I don't know, I might need you to discipline me so I don't forget." Duo winked seductively and suddenly launched himself right into Wufei's lap straddling Wufei's legs.

Wufei growled. "As your superior officer, I can have you suspended from duty for sexual harassment." Duo's grin got even bigger and he wrapped his arms around Wufei's neck.

He latched his lips onto Wufei's neck immediately and licked slowly up to Wufei's earlobe. "Sexual harassment huh? Maybe I should give you a really good reason for that charge, then you can get me all locked up.." Duo trailed off, pulling back a little with a seductive grin.

"Then you'll have me all handcuffed and completely at your mercy..." Duo licked a path up Wufei's lobe to the shell of his ear. He blew lightly into the ear. Wufei shivered. "Duo... you know what could happen if someone sees us."

Duo just grinned again and made a move towards Wufei's lips when the door opened. "Duo, I thought you knew better than to sexually assault a superior officer?"

Duo turned around on Wufei's lap, only being saved from a dive away as he realized it was Heero standing behind them, his Dark blue eyes watching them. Wufei looked around Duo. "Heero." Wufei scowled.

Heero moved further into the room, sobering for a moment as he handed Wufei a file while Duo removed himself from his lap. " You need to read this. Be glad I'm not Une." A smirk crosses his lips as he glanced back at the pair. "Want me to lock the door? It's something I always remember to do."

Wufei scowled again and just huffed. "No I'm done." Duo smiled at him. Heero nodded and shut the door.

Wufei picked up the briefing and Duo just sat with a grin on his face, re-perching himself on Wufei's desk again. "Shit." Wufei cursed. "The Peace for all Eternity Museum was broken into last night and the Starlight Sapphire was stolen."

"What?! Are you fucking with me? They broke into _Relena's_ Museum!? But... Heero fucking put in the alarms and security for that place! _I_ couldn't break in there!" Wufei nodded and continued to read the briefing. _Apparently Preventers SWAT showed up less than sixty seconds later but no one was there... that's odd... How'd they get out so fast?_ Wufei was baffled.

He sighed in frustration again and threw the briefing on his desk. Duo picked it up and read through it, his eyes widening. "Shit..." he cursed again. _How the fuck... These guys are good, no wonder they've been able to avoid Preventer detection for nine months. Why are they only coming under scrutiny now?_

Duo looked up at Wufei and they shared a glance. "Perhaps we should have a meeting in order to see what the prior teams managed to find out about these thieves?"

Duo nodded, then turned to Wufei and gave him a quick hug before heading for the door. He paused with his hand on the knob. "Sounds like an idea. Just keep this in mind, no matter what; we can get these people. We haven't failed yet as a team." _On or off duty._ Duo added to himself and smiled.

"If you say so Duo. If you say so." Wufei then turned back to the files that Duo had tossed back onto his desk with a small sigh as Duo left of his office. Wufei sighed and sat down at his desk, he wasn't doubting their abilities as Preventers or the two of them as a team... but... _The whole thing just strikes me as..._ Wufei trailed off and waited for the meeting.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"So, essentially what you are saying is that you have no clue?" Duo looked at the two other teams that had this case before him and realized something. They were on their own. "Do you at least have a list of what they stole?"

Wufei watched as Duo got more and more annoyed with the other two teams. First he had asked them how they'd broken in. Then he asked for any descriptions they might have. Then he tried to trick them into giving him information by asking what clues had been left behind, then immediately turned the topic to what they, personally, had done. Duo never stopped smiling, but it was starting to turn a little rough around the edges by his last sentence.

Duo looked at the folder that one of the four people across the table from him handed him and flipped it open. On the top was list that has the words "confidential files" listed about twenty times, as well as a list of items that had managed to hit the news as they disappeared from each place. "Why weren't we told what the content of the missing files was?"

The one of the four, obviously not the brightest crayon in the box, decided to answer him. "We were told they were confidential sir. It even says so right on that list I made."

"Oh, so you mean to tell me that you didn't get complete information on what you were assigned on this case, and you failed to get anything that could possibly be helpful in any other instance as well?" Duo watched as the boy nodded, amazed despite himself that Lady Une would allow anyone with such low brainpower into the Preventers.

"How much do we pay you again?" Duo asked, raising one eyebrow. Wufei pinched his lips together to keep from laughing.

"Uh..." the leader of the team in question stuttered...

"Whatever it is, dock it. This is unacceptable. You are Preventers; we don't pay you to churn out crap like this. You are dismissed."

Wufei sat on the table and looked at his watch. "We should call Une and have a meeting with her people." Wufei yawned slightly.

Duo looked up from the file he had been glaring at with Wufei's comment. "What did we do to deserve to work with people like that Fei?"

"I've been working with someone like that for a long while." Wufei tried not to smirk as he caught sight of Duo's indignant look.

"And just who might that be?" Duo lifted an eyebrow to his hairline as he regarded his partner.

"Sally. Who else did you think I was talking about?" At that, Wufei did smirk, but it only lasted a second as Une pushed the door opened followed by Heero, Zechs, Noin, and Sally, who obviously heard the comment directed at her from her thunderous expression.

Sally glared at Wufei for comparing her to the incompetent idiots who had just left the room. Wufei graced her with a smug look, with an expression of, 'You do not scare me' as he crossed his arms, practically daring her to say something about it.

She appeared to be about to do just that when Une decided to speak up. "Please, children, time to bring this meeting to order, his is an office, not a playground. Now, since you've already been introduced to the people who were running this investigation before, you can understand why we need you to take over."

"No offence Lady, but those guys couldn't find their way out of an empty room with the door open without a little help. Why didn't you get us on this before now?" Duo glanced at the previously mentioned 'children' and a genuine smile came back to his face as he looked away from them and back to Lady Une.

"At first, we didn't feel that this was a serious problem. They've never stolen cash, and the few things they have stole worth monetary value, also have a social and cultural value to the people. Such as the Starlight Sapphire which was taken last night at approximately 0205 this morning. This wasn't all that alarming on it's own." Une paused, flipping through her own, far more complete file.

Wufei waved a hand to cut off whatever she might have been about to say. "Why us though? Even now surely there are better people then _them_, who are not us, that could have taken this case aren't there?"

Lady Une gave Wufei a cold, cold look. She wasn't the one that spoke however, causing Une to look even more annoyed. "She told us that you and Duo were the best team to take this case. You can see that I don't have all that much luck at sneaking around. You know Heero, good as he may be, isn't the best person at breaking and entering."

"Are you both done now?" Une glared first at Wufei, then at Zechs. "Very well then. The files that have been stolen seem to be highly classified files of every type. There are plans for specialized equipment, satellite blueprints, there was even a plan for a new sort of metal that we'd been trying to keep an eye on, but all the records are now missing. _That_ is why you need to be on the case with Agent Shadow, understand Agent Raven? You two need to apprehend these people before they decide to do something with all that classified information!"

Wufei slunk down in his seat with a defeated pout. He didn't have any argument. If anything, he has even less ground to walk on as Duo practically vibrated with pleasure. "Man! We might need you guys to help out here, alright, too bad Trowa and Quatre aren't around, then we'd have the entire team to help out. This could get serious!"

"Could get serious?" Lady Une raised an eyebrow. "It's very serious. I was not aware of the amount of information this group has. Has anyone read the briefing we got from the local police department?" Everyone in the room shook their heads, while Wufei and Heero made a move to grab the 200-page report.

They both grabbed it at the same time. Wufei tugged it towards him. Heero tugged back. Wufei growled. Heero glared. Une was currently handing everyone their ass for not keeping up on the recent string of events when she noticed the tug of war between Heero and Wufei. "Damn it, Yuy! It's my case!" Wufei hissed. Heero just pulled the report towards himself again. There were only two reports and Zechs currently had the other one. Lady Une's eyes narrowed.

_Uh-oh_ Duo thought to himself as he followed her gaze. _Shit! Here it comes!_ Duo ducked and covered.

"Gentlemen." Lady Une barked. Heero dropped the report and Wufei flopped back in his chair. "Is. There. A. Problem?" Une said through clenched teeth.

Wufei and Heero both averted their eyes. "No Ma'am." They said in unison.

"Good. Then I would appreciate you paying attention to the briefing instead of playing tug of war like _children_ Do I make myself clear?" Heero and Wufei both nodded.

"Good. Now..." Lady Une continued listing off the items that had been thieved. Duo looked up and noticed that Wufei stuck his tongue out at Heero. Heero stuck his tongue out in return.

_Just like children!_ Duo snickered.

"That's it!" Lady Une slammed her hands down on the table. "What the hell is so funny Agent Maxwell?!" Lady Une yelled.

"Er..." Duo knew he was in trouble when she called him by his real name instead of his code name, Agent Shadow. "They started it." Duo pointed to Wufei and Heero who were still glaring at each other.

"God damn it. All three of you! You need to grow up! Or should I call for a recess and a nap time?" Une was pissed.

Sally smiled. "That sounds like a good idea to me. Wufei's kinda cranky today."

Wufei glared at her. "Onna..." He mumbled under his breath and held up a fist.

"Awww...somebody needs a nappy-wappy." Sally rubbed her eyes in a sleepy fashion. "Somebody is sweepy-weepy and needs a bottle-night night."

Wufei's left eye twitched. He growled and stood up and was going to retort when he realized the death glare Une was giving him. He sat back down. Une turned to Sally. "If he needs a nap, so do you little girl!" Sally looked flabbergasted and her expression said 'What? Me! I was being good!' "This meeting is adjourned. I expect you all back in an hour and act like adults this time, or their _will_ be some suspensions and pay cuts. Do you all understand?!" Everyone nodded. "Good." And with that Une grabbed her papers, leaving the reports in the room and walked out slamming the door behind her.

Duo looked around the room, seeing the slight smirk that was gracing Noin's face and he had to ask. "What has you so smug?"

She merely collected her papers and moved to the door, that smug expression never leaving her face as she walked out. "I never got yelled at!"

Wufei stared at the door in annoyance, growling under his breath when he heard Zechs make a low comment. "Yeah, but I'm not the one that just made a mistake and took someone's private folder to return to Une."

Wufei turned, giving Zechs an odd look as he picked up the large file that he needed to take with him after the meeting. "What was in the file?" He kept his voice low, but Duo inched closer curious to find out as well.

"There were a few erm, personal.. Photos of Noin in that folder. I didn't have time to put it away before I got dragged in here... Well, lets see how loud Une can get shall we?" He seemed cheerful about the whole thing.

"Ohh so you got pictures of the fire breather in there huh? Why didn't you share those?" Duo pouted slightly, seeing what affect the comment would have on his lover.

Wufei growled at them both, turning slightly to catch Zechs' huge grin in reply. It was just too bothersome. He flipped them both off as he turned his back. "I am going home to catch up on this case."

Wufei got up and walked towards the door. "Careful, I heard that little comment about the pictures, she should be on her way back any second, you wouldn't want her to see you leaving now would you?"

Wufei scowled. "Fuck off, Yuy." The door was slammed for the second time that day.

"Now, why'd you do that?" Duo scowled at Heero. "Now I have to go home to _that_, Thanks a lot Heero." Duo rose and gave Heero the finger and walked out, slamming the door for a third time.

Sally moved to the door and gave Heero a cool glance before walking out and slamming the door only to walk back in, the cool look gone.

Heero raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Why'd you do that?"

Sally looked slightly sheepish, then a little worried. "I felt left out, but you better run guys, Une's on her way back!"

Heero sat back deflated as Une yelled at Zechs. He should've snuck out when he had the chance. Now he knew he was going to be here for another few hours.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Duo cautiously opened the door to the apartment he shared with Wufei, his eyes peering around the doorframe with more than a little trepidation. It was quiet. That was never good when Wufei was upset. When he was mad, the entire world knew. He was never just quiet when someone ticked him off. If Wufei was quiet...then he was _really_ mad normally he expressed his views loud and often...for him to keep to himself was odd indeed.

Duo slowly closed the door, the click seeming ominous in the silence of the room. It was only then that he noticed that the entire place seemed... _Clean?_

Wufei, who upon last being sighted, was ticked off, walked serenely into the living room as Duo stood confused by the door. Wufei was acting positively abnormal.

Wufei simply sat down on the couch as calm as a morning's dew. Duo watched, tense as Wufei sat; his eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you hungry?" Wufei asked, his voice soft and even.

"No." Duo whispered, still suspicious.

Wufei turned his head and looked over Duo with a considerable glance as he leaned forward, picking up the file he had set down on the table when he had arrived home. "Shame, I brought take out home. I was actually going to not look at this yet, but if you are not hungry, then I suppose there is no point in forcing the issue is there?" Wufei looked away from Duo almost dismissively, his eyes tracing over the folder before he flipped it open.

Duo shifted on his feet a little, confused by how Wufei was acting. He hadn't acted like this since he'd tried to bring that ferret home. He hadn't known that he was allergic! Duo grimaced a little as he ran back through the conversation. He'd said he wasn't hungry... Mistake number one. Wufei had offered him something. He wanted to use his offering of food to show that he did his part and he'd refused like an idiot. He knew Wufei was peculiar about things like that. "Fei love?"

"What?" Wufei asked. He had calmly picked up the report again from his briefcase, which was on his left, as he sat on the couch. Wufei's right side leaned against the arm, and Duo noted that Wufei had put his briefcase next to him on the couch after Duo said he wasn't hungry. Duo recognized the non-verbal communication for what it was.

'You aren't welcome to sit next to me.'

Duo cringed. _Shit! Stupid! Shit! Shit! Shit!_ Duo berated himself. He sighed and threw off his coat and left it hanging over the back of the couch. He walked into the kitchen where the take-out containers sat cooling on the table.

Duo sighed and picked one up. _Awww... he even remembered to get the spicy bean curd with mushrooms that I love so much. Maybe I should pour myself a bowl._ Duo decided to eat right out of the carton and used the restaurants own throwaway chopsticks. _No point in making Wufei madder by making dirty dishes._ Duo walked back into the living room and made a move to sit on the couch. Wufei's briefcase was still there.

Wufei looked up, not glaring, but certainly not smiling. "Thought you weren't hungry." He said, in a neutral tone and then looked back to the report.

"Changed my mind." Duo picked up Wufei's briefcase and tossed it to the ground and sat down next to his lover. Mistake number two.

Wufei looked up and glared at Duo. Duo shivered mentally. The look on Wufei's face clearly said 'you just signed your own death warrant.'

"What?" Duo snapped.

"Thought you already ate. You know, with _Heero._" Wufei's tone was very accusing.

Duo stuck his chopsticks roughly into the container. "Is that what this is about?" He yelled. "Can't you give it a rest already!? You and Heero are _always_ fighting and I don't know why... I'm getting pretty sick of it Chang Wufei! Will you stop being so overprotective of me?! It's nice and all, that you are my knight in shining armor, but I _can_ think for myself!" Wufei said nothing. He calmly turned his eyes back to the report and flipped over to the next page. "Well??" Duo prodded, crossing his arms across his chest. Wufei still said nothing.

Frustrated, Duo grabbed the report from Wufei's hands and threw it to the floor. Mistake number three. 'Do not come between Wufei and work'. Wufei looked up ready to kill.

Wufei finally stood, looking pointedly at Duo as he gave him his full, undivided attention in the form of a glare, his fists clenched at his sides as he practically vibrated with fury. "Well? You ask why we argue? Did it ever occur to you that ever since we met that _your... your... you!_ might be the cause of our arguing? Heero is not blind you know. I just wasn't stupid enough to ever put the blinders on, and now he regrets his chance and he reminds me of it constantly! Every look, every word from his mouth. I'm not perfect like he is. I don't deserve you. I don't have this. I don't have that! Did. That. Ever. Occur. To. You!?!?" Wufei continued to glare for a moment longer as Duo stood in shock at his sudden outburst, then stopped to pick up the folder. "I'm going to look over this in the other room. Kindly do not disturb me. Thank you." Duo snapped out of his daze as Wufei turned to leave the room, an odd look on his face as he turned away. He didn't let Duo see the odd expression though, and didn't even turn as Duo grabbed his arm. "Let me go." His voice held a quiet steel in it, but there was a thread of something else there too. Most people wouldn't catch it, but Duo wasn't most people.

"No. You aren't going anywhere. This goes back that far? This all comes back to the fact that you have me and he doesn't? There is a reason you have me Wufei. He _isn't_ perfect. He couldn't love me like you do. Nor could I love him like I love you. I _do_ love you Wufei. Don't go run off on me now that you've told me something like that. Let me show you I care."

Wufei held his silence, unresisting as Duo turned him around, trying to look him in the face and seeing only the top of his head. Duo only sighed at his lover's sudden silence, taking in the defeated slump that still marred his proud visage. He was about to speak when Wufei spoke up again. "I saw you get out of his car earlier... It didn't help me feel any better. It made me mad at you too."

Duo could only sigh, tugging Wufei close to hug him tightly to his chest. Wufei was still resisting being held. After a confession like that he just wanted to be left alone to fume. He could feel Duo's arms squeezing him tighter. "Duo. Let me go. Please." Wufei sighed.

"No." Duo replied squeezing him tighter. Wufei sighed. He could get out of this hold if he really wanted to. Decades of martial arts training were screaming at him to throw out his arms and respond with aggression that he was being attacked and his personal space was violated. _A pinning lock like this would be easy to get out of..._ Wufei wiggled slightly, but forcefully letting Duo know that he needed to let go or Wufei's instincts, drilled into him since birth would kick in.

Duo sighed and let go, dropping his arms. He remained in Wufei's personal bubble, however. He remembered that Wufei wasn't a very physically affectionate person by nature, and hated being touched without good reason. Duo, in contrast, loved to touch and be hugged, be held, be cuddled, caressed, kissed, have his hair played with... he longed for that physical closeness that said 'I love you'.

Duo felt his breathing quicken. He was so near tears. _Never before..._ Duo swallowed the lump in his throat. _With Wufei I have been so constrained._ He wanted nothing more than to hold Wufei and kiss him, letting his body say what his mouth could not. Or rather, what his mouth said, that Wufei seemed to never believe.

Wufei swallowed, he felt so on display and wondered how far he could get before Duo would grab him again. Wufei was the better fighter of the two, but Duo was _quick_. He couldn't take the closeness that Duo wanted. In his own misery of the moment he didn't understand that he'd hurt Duo as much as himself with his confession. Duo never wanted anyone to fight over him. He just wanted to know that Wufei still wasn't mad at him, but Wufei was only seeing that Duo was trapping him in his hugs.

Neither of the young men could put their exact emotions into words. Wufei was feeling inadequate, unloved, but most of all insecure. Duo was feeling boxed out, rejected, and wounded. Neither was getting what they both needed because the other didn't understand how to help.

Wufei finally ripped himself free of the embrace, pulling away entirely and drawing into himself. All hurt and any hints of weakness being erased from him in a few seconds as he turned his back on Duo, desperately trying to keep himself together until he could get to another room -alone- and sort through his wayward emotions. He needed a little time so that he didn't comprehend why Duo wouldn't give him space. He took a deep breath and collected the folder, not once looking at Duo as he did, before going towards the doorway to their room.

Duo let out a small whimper as Wufei made to leave the room, a couple tears escaping his eyes that he ruthlessly wiped at. He would not show Wufei that he was weak. He wouldn't break down like this, he _couldn't_ give Wufei such a good reason to just leave him standing there. He couldn't help it though. Wufei was rejecting him. He was so mad he wouldn't even look at him, and it was his own fault for trying to comfort him. More tears slipped down Duo's cheeks and he closed his eyes, trying to keep them in. His thoughts took a downward dive, and he slowly sank to the floor, never realizing that his little sound had made Wufei stop.

Wufei turned in the doorway, trying to comprehend the sound he'd heard Duo make. It had sounded so pained, like he'd kicked him. He never wanted to be the cause of that. This was just an example of how he could fail Duo, how he wasn't who he needed. But for now, he was what he had, so he had to do something. On light feet, Wufei moved back to Duo, kneeling next to his silently sobbing lover. "Duo... You needed me to hug you didn't you?" He ran his hand over Duo's back, trying to convey he wasn't abandoning him. He just wanted him to smile. He never meant to make him cry.

Duo sucked in a harsh breath as he heard Wufei, then felt his cautious and reluctant touch. It was too much, and Duo launched himself at Wufei, crying on him and wrapping his arms tightly around him. He seemed so afraid he'd just go away and leave him there. "And you needed me to just... to just... Leave you alone?" He was trying hard to understand, and to calm down. He hadn't cried in so long... Now that something broke through his barrier it was hard to stop.

"No, I just needed space. I didn't want you to leave me alone, just to give me a little time apart. I was coming back." Wufei wrapped his arms around Duo after a few moments of stillness, running his hands up and down Duo's back and never once saying a word about his tears.

Several minutes passed in near silence, the only interruption was Duo's soft sniffling. Duo wiggled slightly, suddenly feeling nervous and more then a little worried that Wufei was going to suddenly jump away and call him weak. "Let's go to bed?" Duo asked softly, less than certain over his reception. The room was dark now; no lights had been turned on when he came home, as it was still light out at that point. Wufei nodded and slowly got to his feet extending his hand down to Duo who grasped it and let Wufei pull him to his feet as well. They walked in silence, Duo trailing behind Wufei to their bedroom.

There was another moment of pensive silence before Duo suddenly laughed under his breath, taking Wufei's hand in his own and breaking the tension. He still looked sad, but there was a glimmer in his eyes too. "How about we each give the other a massage, make each other feel better, Ne? You know, I touch yours and you touch mine?"

Wufei gave him a faint smile in return, closing their bedroom door behind them from pure habit and moved by the bed, lightly flinging himself back onto the surface. "Is that what amused you so?" It was a gentle tone, like his small smile.

Duo nodded, pleased he'd understood, then sauntered over to the bed. He gazed down at Wufei for a moment before taking in a deep breath and letting himself fall into the mattress beside his lover, bouncing slightly on the plush mattress. He rubbed his cheek into the covers, then gave Wufei a sly look. "Could you do me first Fei baby?"

Wufei rolled over to his stomach, nearly touching noses with Duo as he did. "You sure you can take me right now?" He deliberately played with the words. He owed Duo for hurting him like he had. Odd as it was, he really didn't mind it at all either.

Duo fairly purred, leaning forward to nip Wufei's nose. "Oh you know I can take anything you are willing to give me. I'd be more than happy to."

Wufei returned the gesture with a small grin, rolling up to his feet off the bed and moving around Duo, his tone consideringly. "I don't know how I could possibly give you a real massage with that uniform in the way."

Duo raised an eyebrow back at Wufei as he sat up to tug his jacket off. "You might want to consider your own... attire."

Wufei stripped himself of his own jacket and then his shirt in a flash. "Or lack of..." he smiled softly. Wufei leaned back over the bed and straddled Duo's thighs and kissed his lover softly.

Duo grinned slightly and leaned back onto the bed, Wufei followed, collapsing on top of a now shirtless Duo. Duo smiled softly into the kiss as Wufei gently pulled away. "Mmm." Duo moaned softly. _Now comes my favorite part! Make up sex!_

Duo wrapped his arms around Wufei's shoulders and pulled his lover closer on top of him. Wufei sighed softly in reply then slowly sat up, his legs on either side of Duo's hips. He could see, in the darkness of the room, Duo closing his eyes and allowing his head to dip back softly. His mouth was open in a silent gasp. Wufei grinned at the vision he made. "Shall I touch you?" It was just a seductive whisper to Duo, a sultry offer.

Duo could only moan as his answer, the rareness of the moment enough to capture his senses. _Yes please! Touch me for Fuck's sake!_ Duo was feeling too wonderful to speak as Wufei's hands rubbed and caressed over his nipples, whimpering a little as Wufei's fingers ran in teasing little dances over the nubs. Duo forgot he even knew how to speak as he allowed the sensation to overtake him and drive all words from his mind.

"Fei!" Duo whined. He wanted more contact, more touch, more skin to skin.

"Hmm?" Wufei asking his voice just dripping lust. Suddenly he sat up and rolled off of Duo. He patted Duo's stomach, the sound startling Duo out of his enjoyment more than the touch. "Time for that massage now?" Wufei's tone was totally innocent as if they hadn't been enjoying a bout of intense foreplay after a particularly nasty fight.

_Wha??_ Duo thought to himself as he propped himself up on his elbows staring at Wufei who was looking at him with a totally neutral expression. "I though you wanted me to, and I quote 'do you first'?" Wufei asked.

"Yeah... but..." Wufei grinned internally. He had Duo trapped and he knew it.

_Now I have you..._ "Roll over." Wufei commanded.

Duo gave Wufei a mildly confused look then sighed, giving up. He already knew he just got cheated out of foreplay. He absolutely-positively-most-assuredly did not like that. He gave Wufei a serious pout before rolling over onto his belly with a little huff, rubbing a little into the bed after he turned his gaze towards Wufei, watching what he would do, oh so hopefully.

Wufei rolled himself over and straddled Duo again. Duo closed his eyes softly. Even the position of Wufei's body tonight was turning him on! He wondered how much longer Wufei was going to tease him before they got to this glorious make up sex.

Wufei ran his hands over Duo's back softly in just a light rub rather than a massage. Wufei smiled. He was enjoyed the feel of Duo's warm skin underneath his hands. _He's like clay... so moldable..._

After a few gentle, relaxing rubs, Wufei started a massage at Duo's shoulders. First he used his fingers grabbing Duo's muscles with clawed fingers. Then he alternated between kneading Duo like a loaf of bread and running his knuckles up the smooth flesh. He moved his hands slowly down to Duo's lower back using the same knead-bread-rake knuckle technique. Duo softly sighed enjoying Wufei's ministrations. He was reveling in the all over all body touching rather than the sexual sense. Duo had always been one of those that reveled in touch, and this to him, was heaven.

Wufei pulled back once he noticed that Duo was getting a bit too comfortable. He was perfectly happy with just giving him a massage, but Duo had proclaimed 'me first' not 'me only.' Wufei lifted his hands, leaning down against Duo, smiling slightly. "My turn." Wufei patted Duo's shoulders in a quick manner and Duo was shocked out of his near sleep state.

Wufei quickly rolled over and lay on his own stomach, hoping that Duo would follow. He chuckled slightly. He rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes, waiting for Duo's hands to take their place on his back. "Duo?" He prodded after nothing happened.

"Huh? Oh. Sorry." Duo rolled over and pushed himself up. _I almost fell asleep..._ Duo yawned loudly. He looked to his left to see Wufei already laying face down on the bed his feet dangled over the side. Duo yawned again, and straddled Wufei's hips slowly. Duo started slowly at Wufei's shoulders and unlike Wufei, Duo launched right into a deep relaxing massage.

Wufei smiled as Duo started rubbing him down, murmuring a reply to Duo absently. "Hmm, that's fine, just keep doing that." Wufei only then realized how very tired he was and closed his eyes, letting Duo rub his back. It only took maybe three minutes before Wufei was out cold.

Duo stopped a little while later and leaned down to say something suggestive to Wufei, only to bring himself up short. "He fell asleep? Oh that just isn't fair at all!" Duo grumbled for a few moments, and tried to rub Wufei back awake. No luck. He shook Wufei gently and then harsher. Wufei moaned in his sleep but didn't awake. Duo sighed and collapsed to the bed in frustration. "Stupid." He cursed himself.

_Well... not much I can do now... Wufei's out cold._ Duo sighed again, before picking himself up off the bed and lifting the covers. He thought about making Wufei sleep on top of the covers tonight to teach him a lesson about falling asleep during foreplay, but he changed his mind.

He gripped Wufei under his armpits and twisted him so he was lying the proper way on their bed and pulled the covers over his Chinese lover. Duo stripped off his pants so he was in his boxers and climbed in next to Wufei. Duo grinned and decided that sleeping in his workpants so that he would wake up with wrinkly pants was a good punishment for Wufei. Duo chuckled as he drifted off, remembering that Wufei had only one pair of Preventers special issue pants. _Une will hand it to him for sleeping in his pants!_ Duo finally drifted off into dreamland with a smile on his face.

Wufei peeked his eyes open a few minutes after Duo's breathing leveled out. He smirked as he realized what Duo was trying to do, and took his pants off, tossing them over a chair by the bed. He drew Duo into his arms and closed his eyes again, whispering to his lover. "Goodnight Duo." _Trying to get me into trouble huh? Not this time._ Wufei then allowed himself to go back to sleep, Duo cradled in his arms.

**To be continued.**


	2. chapter 2

**Title:** The Underside of a Rainbow

**Author:** Bagelbunion & Skeren Dreamera

**Feedback:** Mickeofas (yahoo address), and Bagelbunion (cox. net address)

**Spoilers:** Preventers HQ

**Pairings:** 2x5, hinted at others

**Disclaimers:** We don't own the characters from Gundam Wing, nor from the other show that will have characters present in this story.

**Notes:** After.... An extremely long time, we finally come to chapter 2! Those of you on won't notice this as I forgot to post this there for the last... Well almost year, but the rest of you.. I know You've all been waiting.

.o.

"Mmm… Du…" Wufei moaned, rolling over and suddenly his eyes opened. -Aww…just when I was getting to the best part!- Wufei rolled over and noted that Duo was still asleep, spread all over the bed, as well as drooling slightly. Wufei smirked. He threw back the covers gently and got up and fetched the same pants that he was wearing last night when he "fell asleep", and put them back on. -Ah. Not a wrinkle on them.- Wufei chuckled out loud and looked at their alarm clock. It would go off in two minutes.

-Perfect.- Wufei thought to himself before he pulled on his uniform jacket. He straightened his tie and just puttered about the room until the 'beep beep beep' of the alarm sounded in the quiet room.

"Arrgle foof mukaa do…" Duo mumbled and blindly reached a hand out to hit the snooze button.

Thump. Bang. Thump. Whack. Tumble. Crash. Duo sat up straight, his eyes wide and darting around the room. Wufei threw back his head and laughed loudly. "Baka. You did it again." Wufei walked back over to their bed, bent over, and fetched the alarm clock from the floor and put it back on their night-table. "This thing has proved the test of time. How many times have you knocked it off?" Wufei smiled and sat down on the bed, next to the still-blinking-with-sleep-induced-shock Duo.

"Huh?" Duo asked in apparent confusion.

Wufei laughed softly again. "Get up. We have to be at work in about an hour."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Duo and Wufei had had a slight disagreement over how to deal with the case. Of course, Duo, being who he was, decided that the best way to get his point across was to let Wufei do his research. He also came home alone with the car they took to work together, confident that he would find an alternate way home. If not, he could always call. Duo smirked a little, bumping the door closed with his hip before moving to the kitchen counter and to set his two bags down. He'd gotten a few things they were running low on. After checking to see what needed to be put away in the cold, he then left the rest of the bags on the counter.

There was no exact reason he could say that he felt the need to check the apartment, but the entire place just felt weird all of a sudden. It was as though he was walking through an odd barrier for a moment as he opened the doors inside the apartment. He'd checked everywhere else. The only place left was their bedroom. He found himself oddly reluctant to open the door. -What if there's nothing? I am freaking out because of the pressure from the case?!-

He shook off the foreign thoughts and pushed the bedroom door open. -Well, that certainly wasn't expected.- Duo knew that Wufei was extremely careful about their home. -That was… way past interesting.- One of the items that had been on their 'Missing' list, was now lying on his bed. It was a fist-sized doll. It was made of gems and various other materials he didn't even begin to know how to identify. He moved closer to his bed, certain now that this little thing was what was giving him the problem.

It was the Baby Buddha.

He moved closer to his bed, certain now that this little thing was what was giving him the problem. It was the Baby Buddha. "Masaka…" Duo whispered. He quickly pulled out his gun and scanned the room. -No immediate threats…- He ran a quick search of the room only to find nothing. The gem eyes of the Buddha were watching him. Taunting him. "How the fuck?" Duo asked of no one, but still felt like the little idol heard. It was almost as though there should be an answer.

Duo suddenly dropped his gun as a chilling fear hit him and he ran from the room. He turned on every light in the house as he dashed to the kitchen. Grabbing the phone, he pushed the speed dial for Wufei's office, fumbling with it in his irrational panic before pinning it into his lap to hit the button.

It rang three times before Wufei answered with a terse, "Chang."

"Fei? It's me. You need to come home." There was a shaky quality to Duo's voice, and he stared toward the cause of his strange panic.

"Wha?? Du-"

"Now." Duo lowered the phone, looking over his shoulder nervously, not even waiting to see if there would be a further reply.

"Okay. I'm on my way."

Wufei put the phone down with a clatter, speed walking out of the corridor on his way to the parking lot. He'd never heard Duo so spooked before, and it was worrying him rather badly. He was so distracted that he passed by their empty parking place three times in search of the car before he realized what Duo had done. "Damn it! Now is not the time…" After only a brief hesitation, Wufei took out a key he had taken from Duo to prevent a prank, if only to maintain their tenuous truce, and advanced on Heero's car. "Yuy, we already both know you owe me."

Wufei sped home as soon as he was fastened in, not obeying any speed limits, nor any of the traffic laws. He wouldn't get the ticket anyway, so he could afford a little recklessness. -Who'd have the balls to pull over Heero Yuy?- He didn't really dwell on that, taking advantage of the unforeseen benefit as he skidded around a corner at a high speed while completely ignoring a traffic light. He was seriously concerned for Duo, and that was his first concern.

-Something must have happened. He sounded so… off…- Wufei pulled into the drive with a screech of tires and ran through the lobby. He immediately threw open the elevator doors and pushed the button for the top floor. "C'mon. Hurry up!" He yelled at the elevator as it failed to move as fast as he wanted. "It was probably faster to take the stairs!" -Although, I'd probably have passed out once I reached the 60th floor.-

Finally, the elevator reached the top floor, and Wufei shoved it open with his hands, too impatient to wait for it to do it on its own. It vaguely occurred to him that he might have broken it as he ran through the front door. "Duo?!" Wufei's voice was a worried shout.

"Duo?" He fell to a whisper as he saw Duo, still sitting frozen at the kitchen table, and the phone still cradled in his hands. He hadn't even registered his presence yet. Wufei walked over to Duo slowly, and placed his hands on his shoulders. Duo jumped slightly and turned. "Whoa! It's just me…" Wufei spoke softly, soothingly. To this, Duo suddenly grabbed Wufei and pulled him down into his lap.

"Oh Fei!! Thank god!" Duo wrapped his arms around Wufei and squeezed him tightly.

"Duo. I'm here. What happened?" Wufei asked with worry in his voice.

Duo shivered. "Come on." He reluctantly pushed Wufei off his lap gently and they both got to their feet.

"Duo?" Wufei asked again, but Duo only shook his head as they walked down the hall towards the bedroom. -Why are there so many lights on?- Wufei thought to himself as they reached their bedroom.

Duo pushed open the door, and Wufei glanced at Duo's face, noting the haunted look before stepping into their room. Unlike the rest of their house, this room was completely dark. Wufei reached over past Duo and flipped on the light. He completely ignored the feeling of uneasiness that the darkened room was giving him. Duo fidgeted, tugging on Wufei's arm and pulling him further into the room, then pointing at the bed, his voice low as though the ancient figurine could hear him. "I got home and that was there!"

"What do you mean, 'that was there'?" Wufei moved closer to the bed and looked at the Baby Buddha that was settled lovingly against their pillows. "You mean it was just here when you came home?"

Duo nodded and moved to stand next to Wufei, still gazing with the oddest expression at the figure. He didn't like it there. Wufei reached toward the figure, and Duo grabbed his arm, pulling him abruptly away from the bed with a yell. "DON'T! You'll get your fingerprints on it!"

"Duo, how else am I supposed to move it? We _are_ supposed to be retrieve these items. This shouldn't upset you." Wufei gazed back at Duo, waiting to be released.

Duo was not so easily swayed, and held tight to his arm. "We are supposed to retrieve these things, not have them _delivered_ to us!!" Duo suddenly seemed to come to a conclusion. "We should call Une, and have her come get it."

Wufei looked at Duo, blinking with an expression of 'have you gone mad?'. "We should do what?! Now _that_ idea just won't work. If me touching the damn thing would be a problem, what do you think _this_…" He paused, waving his hand at the bed, "Little setup will do for us? They'll think that _we_ are the thieves!"

"But… What _else_ are we supposed to do with it Wufei? We can't just keep it!" Duo gave Wufei a look of worry, then suddenly a look of skepticism. "You aren't going to suggest we keep it are you?"

Wufei huffed out a breath, and glared at Duo. "Of course I'm not going to suggest we keep it! Baka. Maybe we could do something else with it. Maybe we should just… Put it back?"

Duo merely stared at Wufei in utter confusion. He could not have just have heard his justice devoted lover say that. "What was that Fei? I could have sworn I just heard you say to put it back."

"I did. We can't turn it over without the blame being cast on us and you know it. Just think of it as a training exercise. Like when we were still pilots." Wufei then leaned out of Duo's shock slackened grip and picked the figure up from the bed. "I'll clean this of my fingerprints and put it in a bag while you get ready."

Duo stared incredulously at Wufei as his lover left the room and did the only thing he felt he really could. He got ready to break into a museum to put something back. Sometimes, he really wondered what he did in his past to warrant this sort of treatment in life. All he ever wanted was a simple peace guarding job, but no. He gets to break into a museum to put back something he never even stole. Life wasn't fair.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Wufei pushed up the tile from the floor of the "Peace and Freedom for all Eternity Museum" and crawled slowly out. He was dressed all in black, complete with black leather gloves, a black backpack with the Baby Buddha in it, and a black wool beanie. He even wore his black hair down, completing the ensemble.

Duo followed, dressed in a similar fashion. He too, was wearing black leather gloves and was carrying a black backpack. He lifted himself out silently, carrying a mini-mag in his mouth. He was wearing a black beanie similar to Wufei's, and had on black sunglasses. Duo's hair was unbraided and put into two long tails on the side of his head.

Wufei pulled out his own mini-mag and turned it on. Duo stood up, and reached into his bag to pull out a spray can. He tossed one to Wufei while keeping the other one. There was no label on the can. "What is this?" Wufei gave Duo a questioning look.

"For the motion sensors. Spray it on the reflectors." Duo tilted his head in the direction of the nearest red reflectors.

"What's it do?" Wufei asked starting to walk towards the nearest reflector.

"Blocks their signal." Duo whispered. Wufei nodded and sprayed the reflector. -I wonder if our thieves have anything like this?- Wufei thought as he watched Duo go to work spraying reflectors left and right.

They entered the main showing room of the museum through a large stone archway. Duo stopped. "Stop." He commanded lowly, and held his arm out in front of him to block Wufei. Duo pulled a small grenade out of his backpack and pulled the pin with his teeth. He rolled it on the floor until it suddenly leaked gas with a small hiss. Duo turned on his sensor and measured the levels of gas. "When I say go, you run for the stairs okay?" Duo's tone was very serious.

"Roger- I get it." Wufei answered.

There was absolute silence for a moment and Duo's remote beeped and Duo whisper-shouted. "Go!" before they took off for the second floor stairs.

They dashed up the stairs and stopped on the landing. Duo's sensor beeping again as he put it back in his pocket. "What was the gas for?" Wufei asked.

"Blocks the sensors again, this time for large subjects. Only works for short periods of time," Duo replied, still serious, and continued walking to the second floor. "We don't have to be as careful on this floor. I can debug the security easily." Duo grinned and made a dash for the circuit breaker.

"Duo," Wufei interrupted with a disapproving undertone in his voice.

"What?" Duo asked, focusing on breaking the codes.

"Are you telling me you just had all this stuff lying around the apartment??" Wufei motioned the gas and sensors.

Duo shrugged. "Well…yeah."

Wufei scowled. "Why?" Wufei crossed his arms over his chest.

Duo shrugged. "Never knew when I might need it. Once a thief, always a thief? Right?" Now it was Wufei's turn to shrug. "They've come up with all kinds of gadgets in the past few years for breaking and entering. I figured I should invest." Duo punched in some more numbers and a small hatch opened up near the floor. Duo laid down on his stomach and began to rip out wires to splice them.

"Duo," Wufei said sternly, "I thought you gave up that life." Duo didn't say anything. Wufei sighed loudly.

Duo sighed in return. "You never know…we could be homeless and poor tomorrow…" Duo spoke softly as if it had already happened to him over a thousand times. Wufei just pinched his lips and said nothing. There was an electrical snap then a decrescendo as the power in the second floor lessened and went offline.

"Yatta!" Duo yelled softly with a grin. "Let's go." He led the way their flashlights making small bouncing patterns off the walls.

"Ne, Duo?" Wufei asked. "Do you have any idea where we are supposed to put this thing?"

Duo shrugged. "It should be an empty case somewhere in the middle of this room."

Wufei balked, stopping in his tracks. "What? That's all you know?!"

Duo shook his head. "I've only been here once. During the grand opening." Wufei raised his eyebrows at him. "Alright twice!"

Wufei raised his eyebrows even more. "Twice?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Alright four times!" Duo sputtered, trying to remember the others.

Wufei laughed. "That's what I thought."

He smiled and walked away while Duo grumbled under his breath, "Two of those times were with _Heero_".

-An empty glass case!- Wufei scoffed out loud. -Could he possibly be any more vague?! I'm not stupid! Even _I_ know to put the damn thing in the only _empty_ case in the museum!- Wufei grumbled more to himself and walked around the dark museum rather slowly. It wasn't really all that interesting to him. Mostly artifacts, old relics, nice artwork, tributes to technology, tributes to lives lost in the war and so forth. It wasn't his sort of museum.

-Ah-ha!- Wufei spied an empty glass case and yanked the Buddha out of his backpack before he threw it in. It landed softly in the velvet enclosure and settled in perfectly. Wufei grinned to himself and slung his backpack over his shoulders as he made a beeline back towards Duo.

He came up to Duo, who was studying a painting near the second floor landing. "Duo, what are you doing? I thought you were supposed to be helping me find an empty case." Duo turned, clearly suprised when he realized Wufei snuck up on him. Wufei's eyes narrowed as he noted that Duo looked extremely guilty. "You were… shopping… weren't you?" Wufei accused.

"No I wasn't." Duo replied, his tone implying anything but.

"You were." Wufei countered.

Duo sighed. "Did you put it in the case?" He asked, abruptly changing the subject, hoping Wufei would forget.

"Yes. I did. Now, let's get out of here." Wufei replied as he started to walk towards back towards the first floor.

"Did you put it in the right one?" Duo asked.

"What?" Wufei stopped in his tracks. "What are you talking about?"

"Fei!" Duo whined. "You do remember that more than one thing is missing from this museum, right?" Duo stomped his foot softly on the floor.

Wufei just growled. He wanted to get out of here _now_. -We are spending to much time here!- "Hurry it up. I want to get out of here." Duo nodded and Wufei quickly led him back to the case.

Wufei stopped suddenly when he noticed that Duo wasn't following him anymore. "Ooh. This is pretty." Duo was admiring a humanoid sculpture approximately three feet high. It was painted white and had blue paint in a mock weathered look over it.

"Duo." Duo looked up, guiltily again. Wufei sighed, annoyed.

"Aww… c'mon Fei. They won't miss it. Look, it's not even in a case like all the others." Duo wheedled.

"No Duo." Duo sighed and trudged after Wufei again.

"Ooh! This would sooo nice over our bed." Duo grabbed the painting by the edges and began to lift it off its frame, when Wufei walked up next to him.

"Duo. No."

"Fei!" Duo whined again, this time louder. "They'll never even know it's gone! We'll just say 'oh those thieves probably took it' and then we can say we never found it! C'mon! I want something to remember this trip by."

"Duo you take that home, you will sleep on the couch for a month."

"It's worth it."

"Two months."

"Still worth it."

"Did I mention no sex?"

There was a long pause and Duo looked back between the painting and Wufei. "Still worth it." He grinned.

"No sex for six months and you sleep on the couch." Wufei crossed his arms over his chest.

"Think you can last that long you nympho?" Duo teased.

"Nani?!? I can last that long. Put it back." Wufei scowled again.

"No."

"No sex, couch, and you have to do _all_ your own laundry. And I mean _all of it_ Duo."

"All of it?" Duo whined. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Wanna try me? Put that painting in the car and you'll find out. I'm serious about that no sex part too. I still have two working hands."

Duo grumbled and put the painting back. He didn't think Wufei would go through with the 'no sex' agreement… -But I'd be sleeping on the couch and I'd have to do my laundry!- Duo sighed again and continued to follow Wufei.

"Here." Wufei pointed to the case which now held the baby Buddha.

Duo threw back his head and laughed. "Fei!" he snorted with laughter. "This is the wrong case!"

"What are you talking about? I put it in the empty one!"

"Read the label."

Wufei moved closer to the case and pushed Duo aside. -The Teipian Vase. Made in the Va te faire enculer Kingdom, circa BC 238.- "So?" Wufei pouted. "Just throw it somewhere and let's get out of here. We've been here for too long."

Duo smirked. "But Fei, I thought you liked museums."

"Just find the damn case and let's go home!" Wufei yelled, irate.

"Geez Fei, no reason to get so mad." Duo walked over to another case and threw the Buddha in. "There." He smiled and dusted his hands off.

"Can we go now?" Wufei was getting really nervous.

"Relax Fei. No one knows we are here." Duo walked over to another case and pulled out a beautiful crystal dahlia.

"What are you doing?!" Wufei hissed.

"Let's go." Duo smirked and pulled out a small box and put the flower in it. "Fair trade Fei."

Wufei coughed and sputtered before yelling "FAIR TRADE!?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?! DAMNIT DUO PUT IT _BACK_!!!"

"Whoa Fei. Chill out. Lower your voice. Do you know how long I've had my eye on this thing?" Duo put the flower in his backpack and started running towards the stairs.

"Duo!" Wufei yelled again and stomped his foot.

"C'mon on Fei we gotta get out of here, we've been here to long." Duo ran down the stairs, smirking to himself, and using Wufei's paranoia to get away with his own theft.

"Argh!" Wufei yelled and ran down the stairs after his lover.

Duo used another gas grenade and they ran through the main area in silence. They reached the front of the entryway again, they quickly located the hole that Duo had made underneath the museum. Wufei placed his mini-mag in his mouth and lowered himself down. Duo took one last look around the museum, smirked, and swung his legs into the hole before hopping down. He replaced the tile just where he had left it and the museum was left completely undisturbed as if they had never been there. Aside, of course, from the switch of missing items.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The day after the robbery, Heero was on his way to delivering the report to the pair when he found --to his disbelief-- a pile of traffic tickets piled on his desk. He only had to look at the first one stamped with a 'Reckless Endangerment' tag in red letters to know they weren't his. Yielding to a feeling in his gut, he swept all of them up under the report to take with him and started to stalk to the other office. Shame nobody was there to see it. The halls were empty.

He opened the door to Wufei's office without so much as a knock, stomping his way in, ignoring Duo's wide-eyed look at the intrusion. Thankfully, Heero didn't catch them kissing each other this time. He handed the report to Duo, then tossed the tickets onto Wufei's desk, glaring. "Do you know anything about these?"

Wufei picked up one, marked 'Red light violation, fine: 350'. "No. Should I?" He cast his eyes up at Heero, his expression one of complete innocence.

Heero's eye twitched. "I don't seem to remember getting this many violations in a 48 hour time period."

Duo was looking back and forth between them as if he was watching a tennis match. He was starting to realize something that had been prickling at the back of his mind, but was only coming to the forefront as he watched.

"Maybe you should have Dr. Yaibin check your short term memory," Wufei suggested in a fake helpful tone. Duo snorted, covering his mouth to prevent his laughter from spilling out over his fingers.

"I do not have a problem with my short term memory," Heero retorted, incensed at actually being told he had an imperfection; especially by his self-appointed rival- Wufei. Particularly when he knew nothing was wrong with him.

"Then," Wufei reached out and picked up a ticket, waving it about. This one had a stamp of 'No Seatbelt', "Why don't you remember getting all these tickets?"

"Because these tickets aren't mine!" Heero slammed the palms of his hands down on the desk, narrowing his eyes at Wufei. He refused to say he'd discovered his car missing that morning, and had found it in the middle of a park.

Wufei held the ticket in his hand closer to his eyes, scanning it. "Plate number F0TY786, registered to a blue Saab. Isn't that your car?" He moved his eyes to Heero's face again, completely hiding the faintly smug sensation he was feeling. Heero narrowed his eyes even more, pinching his lips together in annoyance. "Well then," Wufei stood up, gathering the multitude of tickets up in his arms. "If you like, I can call Dr. Yaibin for you. He owes me a favor and I'm sure he could squeeze you in today." He smiled as he gave Heero the tickets.

"No, that's fine." Heero took 'his' tickets back with a glare. He left the same way he came in, stomping up a storm. He could hear Duo burst into laughter as soon as the door closed behind him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Later that night, Duo was putting away the last of the dishes watching his lover curiously as he poked and pondered about the confrontation between Heero and Wufei in his mind. As he was making his way down the hall for bed he finally mentioned it. "Hey Wufei?"

Wufei glanced over his shoulder, already headed down the hall to the bedroom as his fingers started unbuttoning his shirt. "Yes?"

Duo followed immediately after his lover, fingers laced behind his back. He tried to keep his tone casual, as to catch Wufei in an honest moment. "How did you get home the other day…?"

Wufei continued his way into their bedroom, stripping his shirt on the way and throwing into the hamper. "Does it matter? I made it home safe, didn't I?"

Duo followed him, standing just inside the doorway as a slightly wicked smile lit his face. "So… you stole Heero's car, didn't you?"

"What?" Wufei glanced over at Duo before he sighed, although it was almost a snort. "So what if I did… Going to arrest me?"

"I don't know Fei… You really did a number this time. Give me some details about it and I'll think about letting you off the hook." Duo strode forward with a little grin.

"Or maybe, we will go back over the report that we neglected in that heist we pulled." Wufei picked up a folder off the nightstand and waved it at him.

"Spoilsport." Duo pouted but picked up the new report.

"Of course." Wufei then turned his attention to finding the appropriate file so they could match information. He handed another file to Duo as he sat on the bed, making him put the new report aside for the moment so he could flip through the old one. Duo pouted some more, fidgeting as he pretended to read the report, when actually he was watching Wufei. "What?!" Wufei finally looked up, annoyed with Duo's apparent lack of interest in their task.

"I was kind hoping you'd…" Duo trailed off, a sheepish grin on his face as he glanced at Wufei sideways again.

Wufei let out a frustrated sigh. "Duo. We have work to do." He sat up, leaning over Duo to show him the papers he was holding in an insistent manner. "Look, notice a pattern here? Our thieves started small and keep working their way up to bigger and bigger things." He flipped a few pages back. "They started with jewelry stores, then moved on to art galleries and museums, now they're moving up into government and information. They're getting bolder. I think we can use this confidence to our advantage."

Duo nodded a little then plucked the files out of Wufei's hands. "Great, wonderful, now, lets read the report about us eh?" He wasn't ignoring what was said, but he didn't want to work at the moment, he wanted to see what was said about them.

Wufei stared at his hands, then looked up to Duo as the man dropped the files well out of reach and came back with the report. "Fine, since you are being so insistent, but we will continue with that in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Duo gestured, then sat back down, opening the report. He let out a whine of disappointment as he read the little paragraph about his prank. "I don't believe this!"

"Hmm?" Wufei turned to him. "After all the fuss Preventers makes about these thieves, they barely even mentioned that the damn Buddha was back!" Duo threw the report back down on the bed.

"Duo?" Wufei raised his eyebrows, picking up the report to read over it, then narrowed his eyes on Duo again. "You should be glad that little stunt of yours didn't gain any attention."

Duo growled at him. "And you won't even let me put it on display!"

Wufei stood up, an almost serene look on his face. "Duo, it's a stolen item. Think about that. A stolen item we're _supposed_ to be retrieving. How do you think that would look if someone just stopped by and there's the stolen crystal dahlia just sitting there screaming, 'Look at me! Wufei and Duo aren't doing their jobs! They stole me and kept me and nah-nah!'" His voice grew in anger with each word.

Duo crossed his arms as he stared up at Wufei, a disgruntled look on his face. "And who's gonna tell? Nobody we let into our house, that's for damn sure! Besides." Duo paused, a smirk crossing his face. "You're just grouchy that I got it, and you didn't get anything yourself."

"What!?" Wufei dragged the word out, his tone hinging on horror and disbelief. "That is so far from the truth that I don't even know where to begin to correct it!" He started to pace about the room. "I don't know how many times I told you to put that damn thing back, or how many times I scolded your sticky fingers for taking something, anything!"

"Fei, don't get so bent out of shape. I was only teasing." Duo shook his head, holding out a hand. "Don't get mad right now, okay? I'm tired, so I know you _have_ to be tired. Just calm down so we can curl up into a nice long sleep, eh?"

Wufei's anger faltered a little as he looked at Duo, a vaguely considering look crossing his face. "You aren't going to get out of this that easy..." He didn't take Duo's hand but sat down on the bed next to him. "I'm sorry I yelled…" It was a whisper.

Duo dropped his hand to his lap with a deep sigh, looking away from Wufei. "Doesn't matter Fei. Lets just go to sleep, okay? I don't want to deal with this mess right now."

Wufei considered trying to get more of an answer out of Duo, then shook his head on a faint sigh. "Right, let's get you out of the rest of those clothes, eh?" It was a feeble attempt at a joke, but it was still an attempt.

Duo looked back to Wufei and snorted. "Fei... Don't try." Duo leaned over, giving Wufei a half hug before squirming out of what remained to his clothes and crawling under the covers. "Hurry up and get under here with me."

"Alright…" Wufei stripped off his pants and climbed in, not bothering to snuggle with Duo. He was still a little upset about the mini-fight they'd just had. Not to mention the stress from the case. Wufei prided himself on his ability to solve problems and this one left his head spinning with confusion. He sighed, hiding his face in his pillow.

Duo scowled, noticing a pattern when he wanted a little attention. For once unwilling to allow Wufei to ignore him, he rolled over, pressing his front tightly against Wufei's back and hauling him close. "I don't care if you are mad at me, I want to be able to sleep, and that involves having my Fei in my arms." Duo said it softly, making it clear to him he wasn't about to let up this time.

"Fine." Wufei sighed, relaxing into Duo's arms. He purposefully wore his boxers to bed that night, not that he didn't want to be close to Duo, on the contrary, he didn't want to be distracted. He had something on the tip of his mind. -If only I can figure it out!-

Duo kissed Wufei's nape, mumbling softly as he ran his hands over Wufei's stomach. He knew Wufei wasn't going to go to sleep, just by the feel of him, but he drew him close, rubbing his cheek against his shoulder before tossing his leg across Wufei's legs and drifting off to sleep.

Wufei didn't sleep for the longest time, wanting to get up and work but he couldn't get out of Duo's hold without waking him up. In fact, he couldn't have gotten out of his hold even if he had woken him, considering. That nagging little voice would just have to wait until morning. Heaving a put upon sigh, Wufei closed his mind against thoughts and fell into a restless sleep.

To be continued.


End file.
